Friday, February 09, 2007

Burns Supper leftovers: a savoury leek souffle

Photos updated in September 2008

I realised last week that 'thick leeks' in Scotland must be much smaller than 'thick leeks' in Estonia. Otherwise I wouldn't have ended up with so many leeks after making the cock-a-leekie soup for Burns Supper. Sue Lawrence's recipe prescribed 6 'long, thick leeks', which I dutifully bought. However, after halving and rinsing and slicing just three of these monster leeks, I realised I already had more than enough. As I didn't use all the leeks I had bought for the soup course, then I had lots of leftover leeks after the party. Suddenly I remembered a recipe for a leek souffle on the Danish Arla site, which I had bookmarked a while ago. I adapted a little, resulting in a savoury souffle made of a simple bechamel sauce and sliced leeks - easy and different.

Halve the leeks, rinse and slice thinly.Heat the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir until combined. Add milk, little by little, stirring thoroughly to avoid lumps. Bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens.Cool a little, stir in egg yolks, one at a time. Season with salt and pepper, add leeks and most of the grated cheese.Whisk the egg whites until thick and fluffy, fold gently to the rest of the ingredients.Pour into a greased 3-litre oven dish, sprinkle with some cheese and bake at 175 Celsius for about 55 minutes, watching it puff up nicely.

The leek souffle should be served straight after coming out of the oven, as it collapses slightly when cooling down. Makes a lovely side dish to some grilled meat, or as a vegetarian main course.

If you want to know what I did with the leftover neeps&tatties, then you have to come back next week:)

6 comments:

rachel
said...

I am SOOOOOO making this souffle this week. I've been eating a lot of pasta lately and making my own pasta sauces (with varying ingredients, but always leeks, at least). I love leeks, and this should mix up my mid-week menu nicely.

Rachel - it was rather leek-heavy, so if you like leeks, you'll like this:)

Johanna - thanks! You've just reminded me that I should sign up for an organic veggie box (at least until the summer, when I'll rely on our mums:)

Jeanne - don't worry - it wasn't one of those really light and fluffy souffles, as there were so many leeks (and though it did collapse a little when I took it out of the oven, then the leeks kept it in shape:) I really liked the dish!